


Finite Incantatem

by skullcandy11



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusive Dursleys, Child Abuse, Gen, Harry joins the dark side, House cooperation, Hurt Harry, I'm not very good at tagging, I'm working on it, Manipulative Albus Dumbledore, More tags to be added, Scars, incorrect Dark goals, probably, probably no horcruxes, right now the story controls me I don't control the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-04-06 19:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14063925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skullcandy11/pseuds/skullcandy11
Summary: Harry is just minding his own business in the Gryffindor common room when a poorly aimed finite hits him on accident. The results of the talk the Gryffindors have with him that night go on to reshape the whole war. Cross-posted on FF





	1. Secrets Revealed

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if there are any typos or something doesn't make sense. Just leave a comment if you spot something weird or are confused. I have up to chapter 3 already written and the outline for chapter 4 already done. I'm not sure how long this is going to be, we will see where the story takes me! ;)

The second years had just started learning Finite Incantatem this week, and it showed in the types of pranks occurring around Hogwarts. The general idea was, if you wanted to embarrass a girl (especially one of the older years), then at an inopportune time you would shoot a finite at the girl. The goal was to see what she looked like without her beauty charms and glamours in place (usually in front of someone you thought was her crush). Of course, this earned you the ire of whichever girl you shot the spell at if she figured out who did it, but to a bunch of second-year boys who didn’t know any better, it seemed like the funniest thing they could think of. This was why, one Thursday night, when Harry was reading his defense textbook, studying up for a quiz tomorrow while trying to ignore the pain on the back of his right hand, he didn’t look up when he heard someone say “Finite Incantatem.” That is until he felt the magic wash over him rather than Lavender Brown, who was sitting in the chair beside him. He heard an “eep“ from someone a little ways away from him, and by the time he tore his eyes away from the book in front of him, the whole common room had gone quiet.

Colin Creevy had a look of horror on his face when he realized he hit the boy-who-lived rather than the girl next to him and was shocked once he noticed the scars that had just appeared on the side of Harry’s face.

“I’m sorry Harry!” he squeaked, “I didn’t know you were wearing glamours. I’m so sorry; I didn't mean to undo them! I was aiming for Lavender.”

Lavender shot him an evil look promising retribution but gasped when she looked back at Harry and saw in great detail what appeared to be an old burn scar on his left ear and part of his cheek. Harry was surprised when he heard a gasp right next to him, and then totally confused when he looked around and realized everyone was silent and staring at him.

“What are you all staring at?” he asked, “And what do you mean by glamours? What is a glamour?” 

By now everyone was concerned as they looked at Harry. Fred had a curious look on his face that Harry couldn’t quite decipher when he said, “Harry, did you know you have a burn scar on the left side of your face?”

Harry looked very confused at the question and then dismayed as realization appeared on his face. “That's still there? I thought it disappeared as it healed!”

Now everyone was very worried due to how blasé he was being about the very painful looking wound encompassing a good bit of his face.

“What do you mean you thought it disappeared, mate?” Ron asked, confused. “Burns don’t just go away.”

“Oh,” Harry said, looking confused. “I thought all wounds disappeared like that for wizards. I mean, I’ve never seen a scar on any of your guys. I thought scars always just disappeared after a few days. All of mine have.”

“What do you mean,” Hermione choked out, “all of your scars have? How many scars do you have Harry? And from what?”

Here Harry colored and looked down, but everyone was looking at him expectantly, so finally he said, “My scars usually just disappear a few days after I get them. Dudley didn’t really like me as a kid, and I tripped and fell a lot when he and his friends played Harry Hunting. And Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn’t really like it whenever I did anything freaky, so I got punished for that too.”

George was having flashbacks to Harry’s room when they broke him out when he was twelve, and with that in mind, he asked the next question. “Harry, can you take off your shirt for us?”

Harry paled dramatically and started shaking a little, which worried everyone in the common room when they saw, and a few winced when they heard his neck crack with how vehemently he was shaking his head no. 

“Alright, alright. It’s okay; you can say no, that's okay.” George was holding up his hands in a placating manner to calm Harry down, but it didn’t seem to calm down very much. It got worse when Neville spoke up for the first time since this impromptu interrogation started.

Contrary to his feelings about what he suspected the next answer to be, he calmly asked his question. “Harry, I know you had mentioned before that you grew up with your muggle relatives. How often did your magical guardian show up to inquire about your living situation?”

The rest of Gryffindor clued into what he was hinting at when they saw confusion spread across Harry’s face. Not understanding the gravity of the situation, he dug his grave deeper when he asked, “What's a magical guardian?”

“It's supposed to be an adult with magic who is charged with checking in on your life every month to ensure you are being treated well since you were born into the magical community before you were orphaned,” Neville explained.

By this point Harry was visibly starting to hyperventilate, but managed to get out, "You, you mean someone should have been checking in on me to make sure I wasn't getting hurt and that I had a proper bedroom and food and did well in school?" 

At the nods coming from many of the kids in the common room, Harry promptly decided he had had too many shocks tonight and just wanted to go to sleep. After saying as much to those around him he went up to his dorm and went right to sleep, deaf to the discussion that went well into the night on how the Gryffindors should act on what they learned that night.


	2. Conquering Slytherin

Padma, Parvati, and Susan Bones had a goal, and no one was going to stop them. Parvati had already visited her sister and the Ravenclaw house, and then they both went to the Hufflepuffs, where Susan joined them on their quest. Now, with Ron’s directions, all three young women walked with purpose to a particular section of wall in the Dungeons, pausing at one of the bricks with an intricately carved snake with an open mouth but no fangs. None of them knew the password, so Parvati, Gryffindor that she was, just knocked loudly on the brick until the section of the wall opened from the inside, and a small second-year poked his head out. He gasped when he saw the three girls and went to close the door as quick as he could but paused when Susan declared: “We mean you and yours no harm. We wish to set forth a truce until the time when a decision can be reached, and request to speak to the Slytherins on their ground if they will have us.” Here, the boy looked nervous, but nodded and asked them to wait while he went and got an upper year. He left the door propped open just a touch, but they did not enter. They just waited at the entrance until the young boy came back and opened the door again and motioned for them to step in. Once they stepped in, they were stopped by Marcus Flint with his arms crossed and his usual scowl on his face.

“Now what is this about?” he asked.

Parvati stepped up and repeated what Susan said to the younger boy at the door, and added that it was a vital matter that affected everyone involved in the war, no matter their side. 

They were lead further into the common room, and stopped at the end of the entryway, looking into the common room occupied by every Slytherin that was attending Hogwarts. 

Parvati swallowed down her nervousness at being surrounded by the Snakes and started her speech that she had just given to the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs. She said, “Hello everyone, for those of you who don’t know me, I am Parvati Patil of the Gryffindor house, and this is my sister from Ravenclaw- Padma Patil, and my friend from Hufflepuff- Susan Bones. I come tonight to request your house to join the rest of the student body in a special meeting room on the seventh floor by the tapestry of the dancing trolls this Saturday at 2 pm. I am not sure how long the meeting will last, so that is why it starts so early in the afternoon. Food and drink will be available to all as well. I have already asked Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tonight, and both houses have accepted to attend this meeting tomorrow. The Gryffindor house learned some startling news on Thursday night, and we feel we need to share it with all of the students of Hogwarts, as this pertains to how the war that we all know is coming will play out. I ask that you please not inform your Head of House, or any other adult, of this meeting, as we will not know who we can trust on the Staff until after this meeting. Also, please do not discuss any of this outside of your House, especially near any portraits or suits of armor, as they are being monitored and constantly report back to the Headmaster. As a sign of good faith to each house, Gryffindor offers the knowledge of a secret entrance available in each common room that allows for students to appear in different parts of the castle, as well as allows you to leave the grounds without anyone’s knowledge. If you accept to join us in this meeting, I will tell you where this entrance is.”

By the time she finished, she was out of breath, but was satisfied with her speech, as the Slytherins looked just intrigued enough that they might accept, and she needed them to accept. One of the seventh years put up a privacy ward between the house and the three girls, and then everyone started to discuss.

About ten agonizing minutes later, the privacy ward came down, and a blonde fifth-year girl stepped forward and delivered their answer.

“I am Daphne Greengrass,” she said, “and I will be acting as Slytherin’s advocate. We agree to your terms, but know this: if this is a prank, then you will have made an enemy out of every single Slytherin, Dark, Neutral, and Light.” At that, she stepped back to where she was and sat down again.

Parvati shook her head and promised that is wasn’t a prank. They didn’t need to know this yet, but the Slytherin house was the lynchpin in how the war would turn. Either student would fight student on the battlefield, and many would die, or they would all stand together as one against the Dark Lord.


	3. Students' Wizengamot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The students ask Harry the hard questions, and some truths come out.

At 2 pm exactly, students from all of the houses appeared on the seventh floor thanks to the secret passageways disclosed to them the night before and went to the tapestry with the dancing trolls. Next to the artwork a set of large double doors appeared and opened. The students made their way in, and most children with parents in the Ministry immediately recognized a room very similar to where Wizengamot sessions were held. The grouping of seats was set up like a horseshoe, with seven levels of curved benches, one level for each year. The stands were then broken up with thin banners running in a line down the benches separating the four houses. Slytherin started on the left end facing the opening of the seats, then Hufflepuff, then an area with a grouping of four chairs that would be where the Minister and the Chief Warlock typically sat, followed by Gryffindor, and finally Ravenclaw on the rightmost end. Everyone was quiet as they made their way towards their designated areas, seventh years at the top level of seats descending towards the first years at the bottom. 

Parvati, Padma, Susan, and Daphne occupied the four seats in the middle of the horseshoe, as they were the designated spokeswomen from their houses. They also had a large, blank board set up behind them. In the center was a comfy looking, hard-backed chair that Hermione and Ron led Harry to before they went to take their seats on the benches with the rest of the Gryffindor fifth years. Once everyone settled, Parvati stood up and called for order.

“Gryffindor has called this meeting today concerning shocking news discovered regarding Harry Potter this Thursday night. All four houses have agreed that this room is neutral ground. Therefore we ask that you please not start any fights, or your house will be expelled from this meeting, and you will not be included in any future negotiations regarding the war. I know this sounds harsh, but we do not have time to dispense with petty squabbles when this concerns all of our lives in the coming years. Now, today we will be hearing from Harry what the Gryffindor house learned on Thursday night, then the four designated spokeswomen will ask any questions that they have come up with during his testimony. Once those questions have been answered, the floor will be open to any student who wishes to speak or ask a question. When that time comes, please tap your want on the knot of wood on the banister in front of your seat, as this will add your name to the queue listed on the board behind me. Thank you for your cooperation. Also, Harry has requested Luna Lovegood to be allowed permission to speak at any time. She will supersede anyone whose name appears on the board. As she has admitted to being the daughter of a Seer, it has been agreed that she knows what needs to be asked so that we may learn everything we need to know, and she has a calming influence on him; this request has been accepted. Now, we may begin.” There were a few grumbles, but by now everyone wanted to know just what in Merlin’s name was so important, and they weren’t willing to be the ones who got their house kicked out of this meeting.

Harry was extremely nervous as every student in Hogwarts looked at him in expectation, and he had forgotten what he had to say. Thankfully, Luna stood up and said to Harry, “Please start with your home life before you entered Hogwarts. They need to know your sleeping arrangements and your chores each day Harry. Don’t worry.” Here she winked, and Harry let a small smile show on his face before he sighed and began to speak.

“I grew up with my mother’s sister’s family. They are muggles, and they, well, I guess you could say they don’t really like me. I grew up in the cupboard under the stairs - that was where my Hogwarts letter was addressed - and I was given a lot of chores each day. Typically, I would wake up when my aunt dragged me out of my cupboard to start cooking breakfast for her, her husband, and their son. I started cooking for them when I was around four because by then I could reach the stove, countertop, and sink if I stood on a chair. Sometimes I burned breakfast by accident. That is how I got this scar on the side of my face. I burned the bacon. Aunt Petunia was not happy, and she screamed at me for purposefully ruining their breakfast as she picked up the pan off the stove and hit me on the side of the head with it. I never burned the bacon after that!” By now he was caught up in the story, and you could hear the pride in his voice as he spoke of his perceived accomplishment. He never noticed the looks of horror dawning across the faces of the student listening to him. He continued, “Around the time I started cooking, I was then handed extra chores as well. I already had been doing the dishes for a year, in addition to cleaning the kitchen, but now I had to clean the rest of the house and take care of the gardening, and anything else Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia decided needed doing. Anytime I got hurt, and blood ended up on the floor, I also had to clean up that mess before I was allowed to go back to my cupboard. I was finally allowed to attend muggle primary school when I was six. There I learned that my name was Harry Potter! I never knew that was my name until then. Before, I had always thought my name was Freak Boy.”

By now all of the houses were equally horrified and nauseous. Their supposed coddled Savior (according to Dumbledore, at least) had not led a life of luxury up until this point; he grew up as a house elf! How was he supposed to save them if all he knew was how to cook and clean. He hadn't even known his name for Merlin’s sake!

Here, Luna stood up again and said, “Harry, could you please tell us what you were told about your parents before you were introduced to the wizarding world?” Now the houses were confused. What did she mean introduced to the wizarding world, he had always known about it, right? Dumbledore said he has been training Harry in secret since he was hidden away after he defeated the Dark Lord the first time.

“Well, I was told by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon that my parents were lazy, no good, rotten drunks who didn’t care about me. My dad killed them when he drunkenly drove them into oncoming traffic and killed themselves as well as the family in the other car. I was in the car at the time, and that was how I received the scar on my head. After they were killed, I was then given to Aunt Petunia and her family. Later, after my Hogwarts letters arrived and I finally got to read mine, I learned about the wizarding world from Hagrid. He was the one who took me to Diagon Alley and showed me my vault in Gringotts."

Luna then stood up again and asked if he had his vault keys on him. At this, Harry looked confused.

"Keys? I only have one vault. And no, Hagrid still has my key. I think he said Dumbledore was the one who gave it to him when he came to pick me up. I don't know; maybe he gave it back to Dumbledore?" 

There were a lot of murmurs going around the chamber at that, and many voices sounded angry, and Harry was confused because he didn't understand what was wrong.

Parvati called for order, and when everything calmed down, she spoke again.

"I understand that many shocking facts have been revealed, but please bear with us a little longer. Does the Hufflepuff spokeswoman wish to ask any questions?"

Susan nodded and organized a few of her papers before she looked over at Harry.

"Mr. Potter, you alluded to the fact that you received multiple Hogwarts letters since you were not able to read your initial one. May I ask why that is?"

"My Aunt and Uncle did not want me to attend 'that freakish school' they called it. Therefore, my uncle tore up my first letter. I kept getting more, and he kept destroying them. Finally, Uncle Vernon rented a cottage in the middle of the ocean, assuming that the owls couldn't get us there, so that is why Hagrid had to hand deliver the letter to me. He was the one to tell me I was a wizard."

"Thak you, Mr. Potter, that is all from me."

Parvati nodded and turned to Padma to say, "Does the Ravenclaw spokeswoman have any questions?"

"Yes I do," she replied. "Mr. Potter, what you said your relatives have had you do for the past ten to fourteen years qualifies as abuse. Why hasn't your magical guardian removed you from such a hostile environment?"

Harry reddened at this, either from embarrassment or anger, his audience couldn't tell. "I didn't even know what magical guardians were until Thursday night when Neville told me about them."

Padma looked pensive and requested Harry to tell them every detail of when Hagrid took him to Gringotts. He explained how he and Hagrid walked up to the teller named Griphook and asked to visit Harry's vault. When prompted for a key, Hagrid mentioned Dumbledore gave it to him for safekeeping as he dug it out of one of his pockets. Hagrid also mentioned having to obtain another package from another vault while they were there per Dumbledore's orders. The goblin took them down to what he called Harry's trust vault where Hagrid advised him on just how much gold to take out. Then they took the cart over to the other vault where Hagrid picked up a small package that he, Ron and Hermione discovered later in the year was the Philosopher's Stone before they left the bank and went to pick up his materials for Hogwarts.

Many of the students looked disturbed at his testimony, but they stayed quiet for now. Padma then pressured him further. "You never were taken into an office where a goblin asked you to give a few drops of blood? No one mentioned other vaults or anything about the Potter family? Have you ever even received a piece of mail from Gringotts prior to your first year at Hogwarts?"

Harry replied in the negative to all of her questions.

"Mr. Potter," she said, "please come see me soon after this meeting so that I may explain how the wizarding world has apparently failed you so far as well as bring you up on proper banking procedures so we can be sure no one is taking advantage of your lack of knowledge. Thank you, he has answered all of my questions."

Parvati then stated that Gryffindor had exhausted their questions on Thursday when these issues first presented themselves, and for Daphne to please ask Harry any questions she had. 

Daphne looked at her pieces of parchment full of questions she knew the Slytherin’s would want her to ask Harry. Most of them were designed to find out more about his home life and any injuries he might have sustained. But as she looked down at the boy who had shown them just how ignorant of their world he was, she decided to ask him the most relevant question she had written down so far, rather than the ones her fellow students wanted her to ask.

“Mr. Potter,” she asked, “what do you believe the goals of the Dark are?”

Many of the students gasped as they realized the gravity of the question given how ignorant he has been in other matters concerning the wizarding world, and everyone looked to Harry for his answer.

Harry looked confused at everyone's reactions, but he finally opened his mouth to say: “Well, from what Dumbledore has told me, the Dark Lord wants to kill all the muggles and ‘mudbloods,’ and rule the purebloods. He also wants to enslave all the creatures in the wizarding world.”

Initially, there was complete silence as everyone looked at him in disbelief. Even the Gryffindors were astonished at just how wrong that statement was. Finally, Daphne was able to articulate what exactly was going through everyone’s minds by letting out an enraged “WHAT?!”

Harry flinched away in his seat from the angry voice aimed at him, and immediately Daphne stiffened, then visibly calmed herself before she spoke again.

“Mr. Potter, I can assure you, that even as someone belonging to a neutral family, that that belief is unconditionally incorrect.”


	4. The Pawn Becomes Aware

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is kind of short. Don't worry. Chapter five will be a little longer, I just needed a bit of a segue, because I have a plot point that I need to include, but now I have to switch some things up to get back there.

Harry was very confused. What did she mean that the Dark Lord did not want to kill or enslave everyone? 

"What do you mean Daphne? That is what Dumbledore has been telling me since I re-joined the wizarding world."

Daphne looked down at Harry with a pitying look and said, "Harry, I'm sorry to say you have been lied to."

"I'm sorry, I just- I don't understand. Dumbledore has been telling me this since I met him. Why would he lie to me about this? I trust him, he wouldn't lie to me!" Harry cried out desperately.

Harry was becoming more and more hysterical as he catalogued the different expressions on all of the students looking down on him. There was anger, confusion, sadness, and most prevalent- shame.

Daphne was speaking now, she was promising Harry she would get back with him at a later time to discuss the true aims of the dark. She said she had to discuss some things with other students of dark, neutral, and light families, so as to make sure he had correct information this time, but Harry barely heard her. He was becoming more and more stressed, realizing that the man he had looked up to since he was eleven had been lying to him. The man he trusted almost like a grandfather had been playing him like a fiddle. No, not even that. He was a pawn. He was just a pawn for an old man, and until this point, he hadn’t even realized he was playing. 

Harry started to hyperventilate. He couldn’t for the life of him get enough air into his lungs. He couldn’t hear anything but a muffled buzzing sound in his ears, and his vision was starting to darken, until suddenly a bright white light appeared in front of his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry! I know it took forever to post an update. I honestly have no excuse. Bad news for you guys though! I just started college. So now I have absolutely no idea when I will be able to update. Sorry. Either way, this is in no way abandoned, don't worry, I am always working on it.


	5. Lilac and Lavender

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized that teachers would have seen some of Harry's scars on Friday while he was in class, so, due to willful suspension of disbelief, I am going with Harry's glamours secretly being reapplied by Fred or George on Thursday night, and they just remove them when he enters the RoR and replace them when he leaves.

The white light smelled like lilac. Lilac and lavender.

And it is was moving.

And speaking.

Huh. 

Suddenly a rush of sound hit him. Many people were talking above him, and the more common words being spoken were things like shock, water, and laying down. 

Harry had his head between his legs and Luna was crouched in front of him, now just staring at him. Others around him were trying to tell her that he needed water, that he needed to lay down, but she just kept staring at him. He realized she was holding his hands, and she just kept running her thumb over his knuckles, a soothing repetition that he focused on as if it were his lifeline. Her hair smelled like lavender and lilac. As if knowing what he was thinking, she quietly told him that this morning she had a feeling that she would need a few relaxing scents surrounding to her get through the day.

When Harry was five he had a bad cough that wouldn't go away. Aunt Petunia kept the cleaning materials in his cupboard, and some of the tips never screwed on right. She finally had to take him to the hospital when he wouldn't wake up one morning, and the doctors determined that he had passed out due to breathing in the gasses of two cleaning products that shouldn't have been stored next to each other. After that, Aunt Petunia started buying natural cleaning supplies that had smells like lilac and lavender to store in his cupboard so that he wouldn't have to go back to a doctor who might ask more questions. After that, he would fall asleep to those smells every night, and learned to be comforted by them as he got older. 

Padma, Parvati, Susan and Daphne all came down from their seats to talk to Luna, and without letting go of his hand, she turned to them and advised that the meeting end early today and reconvene tomorrow. 

They agreed and headed back up to their podium to inform the rest of the students. Meanwhile, Luna gently pulled Harry against her and led him out of the room. Hermione and Ron followed her and let her in to the Gryffindor common room. She led him up the stairs and put him to bed, tucking him in. 

 

The next morning, Ron woke Harry up so they could grab some breakfast before heading up to the RoR.

When they arrived at 9am, the room looked exactly like it did the day before, except for a small table a little bit to the side of his chair with different potions Harry didn't recognize on it. 

Once everyone was settled and the meeting was called to order, Parvati rose to speak.

"As the four House Spokeswomen have asked all of their questions, we now open up this session to individual questions. As a reminder, please tap your wand on the knot of wood in front of your chair, and your name will appear on the board. Also, Luna can still supersede anyone if she believes we need to hear something. Please be courteous and mindful of how you speak. We are here as allies to discuss our options, we are not here to interrogate or accuse each other. Thank you."

As Parvati sat down, the room became quiet as everyone looked at each other, no one really wanting to start. Finally, a name appeared on the board.


	6. Harry, you've been tortured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to Rebmul on FF for being the first to guess it!  
> After reading my reviews (thank you for that, by the way) I feel I need to say that in this story, Harry does join the "dark side". This story, obviously, does not fully follow canon, and honestly I just don't really like Dumbledore. I have read many fics where he is actually helpful, and they are very good and I love the stories, but for this particular story - Dumbledore is not a nice guy. Now, that is not to say Voldemort is a good guy either, but I'm going to be playing this off as not following the canon goals of the dark. After reading many of the comments denouncing my view of manipulative Dumbledore and Harry joining the dark side, all I can say is - I apologize that this story did not take a turn you were expecting, but you can stop reading at any time. Yes, I am not following canon. Do you know what that means? That means I can change the story however I want. If you don't want to read that, then have a nice day, and I hope you get to read a story you really do like. As long as no one copies me word for word, I honestly don't care if you take ideas from this story and change it however you want so it goes the way you want it to. I hope everyone has a nice day, and please enjoy the rest of my story for those of you who keep on reading it. 
> 
> I would like your opinion though. I really feel for Neville, and he will always be on Harry's side. Any thoughts on having Voldemort getting rid of crazy!Bellatrix, or having a sane!Bellatrix making up for her actions because she was forced to hurt Neville's family by some outside source, or Bellatrix not even being the one to commit the crime in the first place (like a Sirius situation)? I will take any suggestions you guys have, I love reading your comments! 
> 
> Also, I have absolutely no idea about Snape. I have read great stories with him being a wonderful, misunderstood person, and when he is really just a horrible person. Therefore, I have two questions: 1. Is Snape nice or mean? 2. What side is he really on (options: Dumbledore, Voldemort, Harry)? Thank you for your input!
> 
> Now, onto the story...

"Why did you reject my hand in first year?" Draco asked, after he stood up when his name appeared first on the board. 

Harry scrunched up his eyebrows and said confusedly, "I didn't shake your hand when you introduced yourself because you insulted my first friend, and, honestly, when we met at Madam Malkins you reminded me of my cousin. Why do you ask?"

"As you are the godson to Sirius Black," Draco explained, "you are his current heir. My mother is a Black, so therefore the Malfoy's are allied with the Black's. In the Wizarding World, when you are first introduced to someone, if you are allied with them, you give them your last name and shake their hand to reaffirm your family's alliance. When you didn't follow this custom, you essentially said to the purebloods that you do not acknowledge our families as allies, and that you thought you were better than me."

Harry shook his head vehemently as he opened his mouth to immediately deny this. 

"No, no! I didn’t think I was better than you, and I still don't! I didn't know that was what shaking your hand meant! I just thought you were being rude by not introducing yourself to Ron, and then insulting him!" 

Here Harry paused, and seemed to think hard about something, and the he said, "Is that why none of the Slytherins really like me? Because I didn't follow this customs when I first met them?"

Draco nodded, then shrugged.

"Well, that is part of it. Another part is that we were all stupid and thought too much of ourselves when we were first years. But, yes, that did create a large bias that may have influenced how we acted towards you after."

Here, Daphne spoke up: “Has your question been answered to your satisfaction, Draco?”

“Yes,” he said, “thank you.” He nodded to the Harry first, then the spokeswomen, and sat down. 

A few more names had appeared on the board as Draco asked his question, and now the next one was called.

Hermione stood up and cleared her throat as she straightened her robes. Harry shot her a slightly betrayed look for taking advantage of this questioning session, but Hermione just smiled gently, knowing it had to be asked and answered in front of the rest of the students so that they could grasp just how serious this situation was. She couldn't usually get a straight answer out of him, but she had a feeling this was serious enough to warrant asking in front of everyone. 

“Harry, why have you been hiding your right hand from us these past few weeks?”

Now Harry was really angry at Hermione for asking this in front of everyone. Now he really would have to answer, because everyone would know about it and would keep bugging him until he answered. 

He sighed angrily and shuffled around in his chair, but eventually he opened his mouth. 

"I have been having detention with Umbridge, and she has me write lines."

He hoped that would satisfy her, but he knew when he glanced at her face that she wanted more. She gave him a look that was equal parts stern and pity. No one said anything because they could see that there was more to this, and that she was wearing him down.

"Fine! Fine...Umbridge has this weird black quill that hurts whenever I write with it. She has been having me write the same line every detention, so that same line has been cut into the back of my hand and it hurts. I didn't want anyone to worry about it, so I made sure you could never see it."

During his little rant, several people gasped and looked sick - primarily purebloods. 

Parvati gave Hermione a Look as she said “Hermione, has your question been answered to your satisfaction?” 

Now, Hermione had made a good dent in the library by the time she got to fifth year, but she had not encountered this black quill before in her readings. She could tell by the gasps of horror and the whispers going about, though, that this was something important. So Hermione stared at Parvati a bit longer as she considered her wording before she said, “I believe I may be more satisfied if someone born in the wizarding world might explain to me just how serious this black quill is?”

Parvati nodded, thankful that Hermione understood her Look before she turned to the three young women beside her. There was a flurry of gestures and whispering between the four, and then they all straightened up again and Susan Bones stood up and angled herself towards Harry and Hermione. 

“This black quill you speak of, Harry, is also know as a Blood Quill. It is highly regulated as it is typically only used in contracts that must be sealed in blood - and this is enough to qualify it as a Dark object. They are only found in Gringotts and the highest levels of the ministry. I'm afraid even someone of Umbridge's position should not have been able to acquire one, as they are monitored by the Minister, and Gringotts would never let someone have one of their own quills. Unfortunately, this means that the Minister of Magic gave Delores Umbridge the blood quills some time before she entered the school. To use lines written with a blood quill as a form of detention is outright torture, and she needs to be stopped.”

Susan looked at Harry apologetically as she gave an addendum to her explanation.

“Another point that everyone must be aware of, though, is that the wards of the school are supposed to be set to warn the Headmaster or Headmistress of the entrance of any Dark artifacts that are used with the intention of harming a student. Therefore, either the wards are disabled, or Headmaster Dumbledore is fully aware of these blood quills, and, I'm sorry Harry, is doing nothing about it.”

Harry was shocked. First off — torture?! She was torturing him? Weirdly enough, Harry never thought of it as torture. Sure, it hurt, but his uncle, aunt, and cousin had all done worse to him before. Did that mean that many parts of his childhood were considered torture? He was never really allowed to see his punishments as anything but punishments. When he started primary school, he learned that he was raised differently than others, and he knew on some level that what they did was wrong - which is why he never told anyone about what they did to him - but, torture? 

As he detachedly reanalyzed his entire childhood with this new way of thinking, he also started to acknowledge the fact that, either way, throughout his years at Hogwarts so far, Dumbledore had not been helping him. He thought a school full of innocent and practically defenseless children was a good place to hide the Philosopher's Stone, rather than a bank, or, really, ANY OTHER PLACE THAN A SCHOOL! He let Voldemort teach for a whole school year. He never closed the school when some magical creature was attempting to petrify everyone. He loved Moony, but Dumbledore really let a werewolf teach without ensuring the safety of children by making Remus take his potion every full moon? He allowed a Death Eater that was SUPPOSED TO BE IN PRISON into the school to, again, teach students for almost a full year? And he didn't see to accept that Harry didn't want to participate in the tournament?

That made Harry think, did he really have to participate in the Triwizard Tournament? When he asked as much to the student body at large, it only prompted a new round of furious whispers and exclamations - this time by everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about any spelling or plot mistakes, please point them out to me if you find them!


End file.
